Human Flower Project
New Haven, Connecticut USA
Philadelphia, PA USA
Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Colombian Flowers: Duty-Free Again
The new Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Colombia went into effect yesterday. Colombian flowers are that country’s major export to the U.S. and have gobbled up the U.S. market since the early 1990s.
Sizing and sorting roses: a worker at Elite greenhouse in Facatativa, Colombia.
Photo: Reuters
Interest in locally grown U.S. flowers is swelling into advocacy, “the 50-mile bouquet” gaining the moral high ground from organics (though many a producer who grows for nearby markets uses organic methods, too).
Meanwhile, the machineries of global government and big business roar ahead.
Yesterday, a shipment of 4,200 boxes filled with 1.2 million Colombian flowers arrived at Miami International Airport duty free. On May 15 the new Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Colombia, a deal 12 years in the making, went into effect, and Colombia’s first export was a cargo plane of blooms from nine megafarms.
Colombian flowers had already “enjoy[ed] preferential tariffs” in the U.S. – part of a 20-year strategy to divert Colombian growers from coca production. Augusto Solano, president of the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, said that U.S. market now receives 76% of its exports.
But Miami Herald writer Mimi Whitefield explains that deal “lapsed last year just before Valentine’s Day and wasn’t renewed until October [2011]. In the meantime, Miami flower importers had to pay tariffs on flowers imported from Colombia and Ecuador, resulting in an extra $2.5 million a month in duties.”
Working on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin: U.S. products will now be exported to Colombia free of tariffs.
Photo: Ultimate Motorcycling
After the expiration of the old trade agreement, some pressures were brought to bear on U.S. lawmakers not to renew such preferred trading status for Colombia. U.S. flower producers were, of course, in the lead in that effort as were labor and human rights organizations, They argued that with union-busting tactics by Colombian firms and lax enforcement of health and safety regs designed to protect farm and factory workers, the U.S. government could not conscionably ease the way for these foreign flowers.
Colombian labor groups are also warned of job losses under the new pact. In particular “corn, beans, rice and soy farmers” especially smaller landholders, “feared they would not be able to compete with U.S. farmers, who receive government subsidies and generally have larger-scale and more technologically advanced production systems.”
In the end, however, with huge support from U.S. exporters who will now enjoy duty free trade in Colombia, the agreement passed and was signed into law by President Obama. According to data gathered by the U.S Trade Commission, the Free Trade agreement “is projected to increase U.S. exports to Colombia by $1.1 billion, and Colombian exports to the U.S. by $487 million.”
By the way, the first U.S. shipment under the new pact will be Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
Araceli’s Flowers on a Seat of Honor
The patron saint of Lucena inspires a distinctive floral outpouring from the faithful of Southern Spain.
The Virgin of Araceli, patroness of Lucena, Spain, dressed in typical Andalusian costume
Photo: Oracion Año Jubilar
On the first weekend in May, residents of Lucena, Spain, make splendid veneration of their town’s patron saint the Virgin of Araceli.
This year the celebration promises to be especially lavish and well attended as it marks a “jubilee,” 450 years since the sacred statue came to Lucena from Rome. The town stretches out its season of celebration from April 30 forward (May is the traditional month of Mary), though Saturday May 5 is climactic: the major procession, will involve the formal offerings of flowers to Our Lady, as the statue moves from a shrine on the outskirts of town through the city to the church downtown.
“As usual, the procession will depart from Paseo de Rojas, and conclude in the Parish of San Mateo, which is home to the Lady of Lucena.
Culture & Society • Florists • Religious Rituals • (0) Comments • Permalink
Friday, May 04, 2012
Hold onto the Moment
Silver trophies are a cinch, but what if your moment of triumph is crowned with flowers? A Danville, Kentucky, florist has a high-tech solution.
Jockey John Velazquez and 2011 Derby winner Animal Kingdom wearing his wreath of roses.
Photo: WDTN
Tomorrow they’ll run the 138th Kentucky Derby in Louisville with great fanfare and millions of dollars on the line (but let’s hope, not the life of a thoroughbred racehorse as in 2008).
Called “the greatest two minutes in sports,” the Derby in Louisville now stretches to more than two weeks of festivity, and for breeders and trainers, preparing a three-year-old for the event can involve a lifetime of experience, investment and, of course luck.
No wonder winners want to hang onto the wreath of roses, the floral mantle every Derby winner gets to wear after the race.
Greg Kocher of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote a good feature article on Molly’s Flowers and Things, a Danville flower shop that has been freeze drying floral trophies and other mementos for nearly 20 years. Her first client from the world of racing was W.T. Young. The owner of Overbrook Farm outside Lexington had Molly Jacobus “preserve the white carnations that Tabasco Cat took at the Belmont Stakes.” Two years later, when his horse Grindstone won the Derby, Young hired Molly to preserve the wreath of roses. Many of the winning owners since have done the same.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Protomagia
May Day honors workers in Greece, but it also occasions flower picking and wreath making, an old custom from the days when everyone was a worker.
Children in Crete collect flowers to fashion into wreaths, May 1.
Photo: Brent Scheneman
Protomagia is Greek even we can understand. It’s the celebration of May 1st – the peak of spring wildflower season there.
In Crete, and other parts of Greece too, the day draws people out of doors to pick blooms and turn them into wreaths that will hang on and about doorways for the next several weeks.
Effusive blogger Sunny Fotini writes that Protomagia is a “day off for everybody.” (It’s also the national Labor Day holiday.) “We did what our ancestors did thousands years ago,” writes Sunny. “Celebrate the Mother Nature!”